


For Future Generations

by nayanroo



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Background Ship - JediStormPilot, Canon-Typical Violence, Emperor Hux, Familial Reconciliation, Kidnapping, Kylux Secret Santa 2016, M/M, Multi, babies for everyone!, i don't even know i'm sorry, they're still really happy to kill people
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-24
Updated: 2016-12-24
Packaged: 2018-09-11 19:07:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9003943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nayanroo/pseuds/nayanroo
Summary: More than ten years into the Empire's rebirth under Hux - and the ongoing war with the remnants of the Republic - change may come from somewhere it is least expected.  But there are groups within the Empire that resent this, and will do anything to stop it.
In which Hux and Ren have two daughters via SCIENCE, Leia just wants to see her son again, and galactic peace, as ever, hinges on the ability of the Skywalker family to find light in the darkest of places.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [EmptyOliveJar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmptyOliveJar/gifts).



> For Kylux Secret Santa 2016, and EmptyOliveJar. I hope you enjoy it! If you want to know how I scrapped my original idea and slammed this thing out in less than three weeks while absolutely losing my mind, please find me here or on the tumbles and I will tell you the whole sad story.

“Father.”

Sitting at his desk, Hux, ruler of the Empire Reborn, sworn leader of thousands of star systems, swiped to another page on the report from the border worlds without even glancing over at his oldest. “I’m busy right now, Isibel.”

“Fa _ther_. Father, _listen._ ”

_Honestly, she’s as demanding as Ren…_ Hux set down his datapad and turned to look at his oldest daughter, standing beside him. Despite his irritation at the interruption, he would not show it – or try to think it too hard – in the presence of his children. “What is it? Why aren’t you with your tutor?”

“They wouldn’t listen.” Isibel, seven years old and tall for her age, grabbed his hand and pulled, trying to get him to stand up. “Father, you need to _listen._ They’re coming.”

_That_ was worrisome. Hux let himself be pulled toward the transparisteel windows, wracking his brain for who she might mean. Sometimes she got like this when Ren had been gone for a long time and was coming home, but Ren wasn’t due back in the capitol for a week at least – it had been one of his husband’s reports he’d been trying to read, in fact. “ _Who’s_ coming, Isibel?”

They reached the window and she pointed at the faraway dots, ships dropping through the atmosphere. They were perilously close to violating the airspace around the government complex and Imperial Residence; in his mind, Hux could hear the air control operators losing their minds trying to redirect or get more information. No Imperial pilot worth their wings would dare fly so close in, not even the hotshots trying to earn their way into Phasma’s Special Forces units…

“They’re coming,” she repeated, a tremor in her voice, just as the shields began slamming shut before them.

Hux picked her up, trying not to let his sudden spike in fear reach her. “We’re going to get you somewhere safe,” he told her.

The hallway outside the office was full of staffers and guards, all of whom seemed to gather around him as he carried Isibel toward the turbolifts. “Get out of my way, get—move! Where’s Phasma?” he asked the guard captain, striding forward as the sea of beings parted before him.

“Directing the Residence’s defense from below, my lord.”

“Is anyone getting Breena?”

“Her nanny is bringing her, my lord. They’ve got a detachment with them. They’re safe.”

Isibel wrapped her arms around his neck, and Hux could feel hot tears sliding under the collar of his jacket. The fear became anger; how dare these invaders, these _fools_ upset his daughter? 

They got into the turbolift and Hux shifted Isibel so he could press his thumb to an innocuous-looking corner of the control panel. With a soft beep at the verification of thumbprint and genetic record, a second panel slid out, and Hux typed in his command code. The turbolift began to drop.

“Papa’s coming,” Isibel whispered in his ear. Hux didn’t respond.

The turbolift opened on to a plascrete tunnel. Opposite the turbolift was a wall with a door set in it, and with another biometric confirmation this one slid open for Hux too. Beyond was a low bunker already half-full of beings, all talking quietly and urgently. He set Isibel down on a padded chair and knelt in front of her.

“You’re going to have to sit here for a bit while I talk to General Phasma,” he told her. “Can you do that?” She nodded, and he reached out, touching her soft auburn hair, and remembering how small she’d been when the Kaminoans had taken her from her growth chamber and put her in his arms. “I won’t be a moment.”

Isibel nodded, but though her eyes were still watery, they had that faraway look that Ren sometimes got, the look that meant that Hux was about to either be infuriated or impressed. “Papa’s coming,” she repeated.”

“Papa’s far away, too far to get here soon. But we’ll send him a message and tell him we’re all right.”

Isibel gave him another very Ren-like look, and had she been her second father she probably would have said something along the lines of _you have no idea the power the Force holds,_ but she didn’t and Hux didn’t wait for her to say anything.

Phasma was in the niche off the side of the main chamber, studying tactical displays and speaking quietly into her comm. She’d kept the chrome armor despite the promotion after Hux had taken power, though indications of her rank had been painted on. She’d said that the symbolism was just as appropriate now as it had ever been under Snoke, and Hux had been inclined to agree with her. She glanced over and nodded, and he studied the displays himself for a few moments, taking in the situation.

“Talk,” he said. 

“We think it’s the Resistance, sir. Backed by the Republic.”

“Shame they didn’t back their dogs well enough a decade ago. Targets?”

“Us, sir. Residence shields are holding for now, and the government complex is being evacuated, but…”

“But?”

“But we’re outnumbered three-to-one, sir. An attack of this size this deep in our territory, without prior detection, was not factored into our plans. I’m recalling all nearby ships, but the nearest one will take four hours to return.”

“Then we hold for four hours. Doable?”

“Yes. And… I’ve taken the liberty of sending an encrypted hypercomm to the _Enforcer,_ sir.”

“Better to tell him now than have him find out. Where are they?”

“Their last known position was in transit to Bespin, to refuel and resupply for the next leg of their patrol. At top speed it would take them a full day to return.”

Hux leaned on the console, quickly running through their options. “We use our ground-to-air cannons,” he said, “In conjunction with our air squadrons. Scramble the trainees from the academy if we must, the senior ones who are nearly graduated. We do not fall, and we do not retreat unless it becomes absolutely necessary. And if it does… you take my daughters and head for safety.”

“I’ll be taking all three of you.”

“Ren won’t be controllable if his daughters are harmed.”

“With all due respect, sir, he’d be uncontrollable if you’re harmed, too.”

Hux conceded the point, right before Breena and her nanny were let into the room. Isibel brightened and huddled together with her sister on the seat, watching something on a borrowed datapad, auburn and brown heads leaning over the screen.

“Sir,” Phasma said, a little while later. “I’ve received acknowledgment of the hypercomm from the _Enforcer._ ”

There was an unspoken word at the end of the sentence, and Hux waited for a moment before prompting, “And?”

“And they no longer appear to be anywhere on their projected route.”

Hux closed his eyes. _Please, Ren, please don’t have done something impetuous and stupid…_ “Could you explain?”

“Monitoring station feeds indicate they dropped out of hyperspace thirty seconds after acknowledgment and then reentered hyperspace, on a Coreward vector. Further data… appears to be unreliable.”

“What does _that_ mean?”

“It means they appear to be traveling faster than the _Enforcer’s_ top speed in hyperspace, sir.”

Hux took a moment to curse ever letting Ren into his quarters on the _Finalizer_ in those desperate days following the destruction of Starkiller Base. Had he known it would lead to _this…_

Of course, it had also led to Isibel, hopping down off the chair and running over to him. “Papa’s coming,” she said. “Breena says, too.”

“Breena agrees.”

“Breena agrees,” Isibel repeated dutifully. She crossed her arms, staring up at him. “Papa _is_ coming.”

“Little star…” Hux knelt, and Phasma turned back to her displays, giving them some privacy. “Papa won’t be here for another day.”

“Papa can do anything.” 

Despite all that he’d seen Ren do, it was more than Hux could believe. “Go back outside and wait for a bit,” he said. “I’ll be along soon enough.”

“Sir,” Phasma began quietly once the girls were hopefully out of earshot, “You don’t suppose that they’re right?”

“They’re children, Phasma.” 

“But they’re his children as much as they’re yours, sir.”

Hux shook his head. “It’s not possible for the _Enforcer_ to be going as fast as sensor data indicates,” he said. “We keep up our defense.”

The first of the recalled ships began arriving at precisely three hours, fifty minutes since the attack began, having pushed their hyperdrives past optimal. They weren’t much – convoys this deep into Imperial territory hadn’t needed heavy guard since the early days – but they began turning the odds back into their favor, picking off the Resistance fighters one by one. And it was at that time that the comms light went off.

“It’s from the Resistance, sir,” Phasma said. “They have a request.”

“Awfully forward of them.” Hux put on a headset. “Patch it through.”

There was a brief crackle of static, and then a familiar face appeared on the screen.

“Poe Dameron,” Hux muttered. “I thought it might be you. Or the Jedi girl.”

“Rey’s got other things going on right now. But I think we’re both fighting for the same thing.” Poe’s face was partially obscured by his helmet, but Hux could see how hard his gaze was. “General Organa wants me to deliver a message.”

“Is she negotiating on behalf of the Republic now?”

Poe’s jaw worked. “No. This is a personal matter.”

_Oh, interesting._ Hux raised his chin. “Let’s hope her request is worth upsetting my family.”

“She wants to see them.”

_Very interesting indeed._ Hux knew that Ren had sent a message to his mother on the occasion of the birth of each of their daughters, the content of which was along the lines of _Here is a holo, you can see her never_ , which was childish but satisfying to both of them.

“You understand I won’t make these decisions without Kylo Ren.”

“The General understands. She’s asked me to pass on a private comm frequency you can use, if you want to continue. You should be receiving it now.”

Sure enough, Phasma tapped one of the displays, a series of numbers scrolling across it. “Received. You needn’t have attacked and terrorized us to do this.”

“General Organa doesn’t believe you’d listen otherwise.”

Phasma shrugged, mouthing _Fair point._ Hux kept his face neutral.

“Why ask for this?” he said, eyes narrowing. “The Republic’s barely a fraction of its former size. Your government is crumbling, almost nonfunctional. Why use this chance to ask for… for _visitation_ , rather than sue for peace?”

“Because you wouldn’t listen to that either.” Dameron paused. “General Organa says she knows the kind of man her son would love.”

“Sir,” Phasma whispered, tapping out a message urgently. Hux glanced down at the display. 

GENERAL ORGANA IS HERE

“Cut the transmission,” he ordered, and Dameron’s face disappeared. “Find his ship! General Organa is _on this planet_!”

There was a flurry of activity, during which Hux leaned in. “How did you know?”

“The pause,” Phasma replied. “He was listening to her telling him what to say. We’ve jammed their communications so she’s not transmitting from elsewhere. She must be with their force.”

“She’s taken a stupid risk this time.” Hux watched, chewing on a cuticle, as his forces began to dog every Resistance fighter. They were making for orbit, for the safety of hyperspace, protecting a trio of ships at the tip of the spear.

“They’re in range of our ships in orbit,” Phasma murmured.

“Tell them to fire at will.”

Tense, he watched the small phalanx of Resistance ships twisting and turning, evading fire and shielding the three ships in their midst.

“They’re going to get away,” Phasma said. Hux’s fingers tightened on his arm.

“They’re not clear yet.”

Suddenly another fleet appeared on their screens, blocking the vector the Resistance fighters had been trying to take. It was the _Enforcer_ and her support ships, and Hux felt a surge of pride in his husband.

“How are they here?” he heard someone behind him ask. “They shouldn’t have been able to reach us for another six hours!”

“Papa can do anything.” Breena had woken and curled herself against Hux’s leg, watching the screen. Hux put a hand on her head and she grinned up at him. “Told you.”

“Resistance ships changing course,” Phasma said warningly. “They’ll be clear of Chandrila’s gravity well in fifteen seconds.”

“Why isn’t the _Enforcer_ firing?” Hux demanded, but knew in his gut what it was. If Organa was out there, Ren wouldn’t be able to make the call. Snoke might have hardened him, but it hadn’t been complete, hadn’t been done with exacting attention to detail. Snoke had left chinks in the armor he’d put around his favorite apprentice, and if Hux had been able to exploit them, it stood to reason that Ren’s own mother would be able to as well.

He watched, stone-faced, as one by one the Resistance ships winked off the display and into hyperspace. The _Enforcer_ and her ships vectored away, heading for orbit positions.

“Sir?” Phasma asked. Hux’s hand was just resting on Breena’s head now as his mind worked. “The _Enforcer_ bridge crew is telling me that Kylo Ren’s on his shuttle.”

“I imagine he is.” Hux collected his thoughts for a moment. “See that the girls are safe until we’re certain that the Resistance forces are gone and not returning,” he said at last. “I need to speak with Ren.”

*

The hangar had been cleared of personnel, even Hux’s guard. The captain had protested, but when he saw how icy his Emperor’s glare had become he’d saluted and left. So when Kylo Ren strode down the shuttle’s ramp, helmet already tucked under his arm, Hux was alone.

“The girls?” he asked. “Are they safe?”

“They are.” Hux presented him with a datapad. “Watch.”

The entire exchange with Poe Dameron played over. When it was finished, Ren pushed it away.

“We aren’t letting her near them.”

“That was my initial reaction. However, Ren, I wish you’d consider the long term…”

“What?”

“A chance for surrender.”

Ren stared at him. “You would use our daughters as political pawns? I thought we had agreed they wouldn’t be pieces in any game.”

“Will you listen? That’s not what I said.”

“Isn’t it? Tell me what you actually meant that _sounded_ like it.”

Ren took off, his coat flaring out around him, and Hux was left with the undignified and un-Emperor-like option of running after him, or standing his ground and yelling after him as they had before. He opted for the latter; years of being with the man had indicated that one didn’t back down from one’s position, especially when Ren was being petulant.

“I know that it would look better for us if we got the Republic to agree to surrender on their own terms.”

“I don’t trust her with them.”

“I know.” Now Hux deemed it acceptable to move up beside Ren, to pull in front of him and stop him in his tracks. “I don’t want them harmed any more than you do.”

Ren studied him for a long moment, and when Hux felt a familiar pressure against his temples he clenched his jaw and let Ren poke around, never breaking eye contact. One of the ways to manage his husband, he’d found, was to show him that there was nothing being hidden from him. It was how Ren had come to trust Hux enough to betray his master for him, how they’d swept First Order space and then Republic space, taking one system after another. It was how he’d been able to hold Ren’s head against his chest, touching his skin carefully to avoid the bacta patches covering the wounds from Ren’s punishments following Starkiller, and tell Ren that he’d be able to make sure this didn’t happen again.

It was how Ren trusted him, and it was a small price to pay. Hux got the galaxy, and Ren got Hux and the girls, and it was enough.

“Fine,” Ren said, and the pressure withdrew. “I know you wouldn’t really put them in danger.”

“Of course not, Ren, don’t be daft.” Confident that the guard captain was keeping the hangar clear, Hux let himself step in close, forehead resting against Ren’s chin. He had to hunch a little to do it, but it was worth the feeling of Ren’s hands on his back, lips pressed to his hairline. Hux had always been jealously protective of their moments together, now more than ever. He would savor this, and the way that Ren’s lips moved from hair to the shell of his ear to Hux’s own mouth, fingers gripping his hips and pulling them forward, making it evident how much Ren had missed him. Hux’s back hit a supply crate – he wasn’t even aware of having moved, but here they were, Ren pressing him against the crate, nudges indicating he wanted Hux to turn around and bend over.

“I am _not_ being fucked in a hangar while potential surrender of the Republic to my Empire is literally in my hand,” Hux protested. “We’ve time for that later.”

“I missed you.”

“I’m aware.” Hux indulged himself, pushing his hips up against Ren’s enough to make them both groan, Ren’s face in his shoulder. “Later. It’ll be better later.”

Ren grumbled something unintelligible but pulled back, his eyes still dark as he watched Hux set himself to rights, straightening the rank insignias on his shoulder and chest. 

“Come on,” he said. “The girls want to see you. Speaking of—Ren, how did you get here so soon? You shouldn’t have been able to go that fast, not even with all the upgrades to the _Enforcer’s_ hyperdrive.”

Ren shrugged. “I don’t really remember. I just knew I had to get back here. The Force did the rest.”

Hux opted not to push that one, falling into step beside Ren as they made their way back to the Residence. Some things he didn’t want to know.

*

Safely on their second hyperspace jump, Leia tapped Poe on the shoulder. 

“Thank you for this,” she told him. “I know… I know what they took from you.”

Poe was quiet, and she could see his eyes cloud over with old pain, old memories of a steel chair and a gloved hand. Without thinking she reached out and soothed those thoughts away, and Poe let out a shuddering breath.

“They gave me a lot too,” he said quietly. “But if I may, General… do you really think this will work? Do you really think this is the way to peace?”

“Children are always our best hope for a better future. My son… he walks a dark path, but those girls are his light.” _And the Emperor,_ she reminded herself. But if Ben – if Ren was anything like the rest of his family, he’d do anything for his children.

“I trust you, then.”

“As well you should. Look at your own future, Poe.” Leia nodded her head to the holoprojector wedged above a control panel. “Yours is bright.”

Poe smiled then, and settled back against his seat. “It really is,” he said quietly, gloved fingers resting lightly on the holoproj. “You may be on to something here.”

“I’ve had a few years to figure it out.” Leia got comfortable too, easing her legs into a better position. These tandem cockpits weren’t made for someone her age, but the pain was worth it. She would have to believe that.

*

It was well into the night cycle when Ren carefully extricated himself from Hux and slipped down the corridor out of their bedroom. The room was cold – Hux had been raised on ships, in space, or on Arkanis where it constantly rained, and he complained that he couldn’t sleep if it was a decent temperature. Yet he insisted on wrapping arms and legs around Ren every night like some kind of tree-dweller. It was endearing in a way that Ren would never, ever admit to Hux’s face, especially because there were times, in the darkest parts of the night, when they both needed the contact.

He paused, poking his head into first Isibel’s room and then Breena’s. Both slept soundly, the events of a week prior forgotten in the return of their second father and new lessons to be learned. Isibel was prodigious in the Force, and Breena was already ahead of where a child her age ought to be. Pride filled him, and he soothed Isibel away from the nightmare her mind had been circling and injected a sense of peace into Breena’s dreams and continued on.

Hux wouldn’t approve of what he was going to do, and honestly, Ren wasn’t quite sure why he was doing it. Hux would have insisted they wait until all his advisors had been consulted, all data collected and analyzed, before making any sort of decision. Ren understood but didn’t agree, and anyway, the thought had been growing in his mind since Hux had shown him the message. Whether it was his own mind, battered and hollowed by the way he’d violently ripped Snoke out but slowly repaired by the constancy he’d had for the last decade, or the quiet prompting of the Force… but there would be time to think about that later. 

Sitting at the secure comms console, Ren entered the comms frequency Poe had transmitted to them, waiting for the display to indicate a connection. It beeped and he turned quickly, using the Force to listen to the noises in the Residence. The girls, still asleep, and Hux – he turned over, but didn’t wake. Ren turned back to the console.

“General Organa,” he said, speaking quietly. “I speak for myself and my family, not for the Empire. I will be on Ptath II in three days. Meet me at the time and coordinates attached to this message. We can talk then.”

He appended the necessary information to the transmission, and after a moment of thought attached a current holo of the girls too, and sent it, then closed out of the console and made his way back to bed. Hux woke long enough to wrap an arm over his chest and half-open one eye as Ren got settled.

“Where’d y’go?” he asked. His Arkanis drawl came back when he was like this. Ren had never told him, but he liked the softness of it.

“Had to send a message. Go back to sleep, I’ll tell you in the morning.”

Hux made a displeased noise but went back to sleep almost immediately, leaving Ren to stare into the darkness of their ceiling and wonder if he’d made the right choice.

*

“You did _what?_ ”

Ren didn’t have the grace to look apologetic, instead meeting Hux’s eyes defiantly across his desk. “I contacted General Organa.”

“Did you…” Hux let his head fall, counting to ten as he rubbed his fingers over his eyes, _very_ glad he’d kept his cool while clearing the room after Ren had dropped this particular bomb on him. “Did you _think,_ Ren, that this was the kind of thing that you could just… just _run amok_ \--“

“I’m not running amok. You were all taking too long, and… I know her. She won’t wait forever. Do you want another incursion like the last one? This way I can determine if she’s lying to me. Again.”

“We’ve made improvements to our sensors so she can’t slip in the same way again,” Hux replied stubbornly. “We were making _plans._ ”

“For a meeting in _six standard months._ This risks nobody. It’ll just be her and me.”

“A risk to you is unacceptable.”

“Why, Hux, it’s like you care.”

Hux glared at him for a moment more before throwing up his hands. “Fine. Go on, go meet her, do whatever you want. You’re going to anyway.”

“Hux…” Ren sighed. “Hux. _Armitage._ ”

“ _Don’t._ ” But Hux looked up, irritation replaced by… something else. Worry, perhaps. “You’ll at least take a guard?”

“I don’t think that’ll be necessary.”

“I know your mother was raised by pacifists, but she’s demonstrably not one herself. If you get hurt because of this—“

“I won’t.”

“—but if you do, know that I will burn every inch of every planet in the galaxy until I find your mother and exact my revenge.”

Ren smiled. “I’d expect nothing less from you.”

*

The group of senators that had crowded into his office after Ren left were all talking over each other, shouting to be heard, until Hux slammed both his fists on his desk and stood. There were times he was _very_ glad for both his height and the fact that he’d instructed the desk to be raised just slightly, so no matter what, he would be looking down on whoever was addressing him. Only Ren and Phasma got to use the chairs placed opposite him. Everyone else had to stand.

“I have _heard_ and considered your very _numerous_ concerns, but this… _visit_ of Ren’s is a family affair, not one of state. So unless you wish to legislate that aspect of our lives, you have no recourse.”

The senator from Onderon, a human woman named Reeva, stepped forward. “Emperor Hux,” she said, “We strongly urge you to reconsider allowing any contact with the Republic, let alone General Organa. She represents a real and very serious threat to the Empire.”

“And I’m certain that General Phasma will be reporting as much to me when her analysts finish their assessment. Until then I will not bar the Knight Consort from seeing his family if he chooses.” _Whether or not I think it’s a good idea,_ Hux added to himself, but kept a sour expression off his face. This required a show of unity with Ren, and he’d not strayed in the years they’d been in this together. Ren needed him, and as much as he was loath to admit it, Hux needed Ren too.

“Until such time as I have information telling me otherwise, I will continue to pursue this avenue. Peace now doesn’t mean they won’t see reason and join us.”

The senator backed down and took the group with her, and Hux remained standing until the door had slid shut after their escort (what was his name? That forgettable little fellow, back when the _Finalizer_ was a First Order ship) had left. Then he sat, heavily, and counted very slowly to ten before thumbing a button and open a secure comm channel to the _Enforcer._

“Phasma,” he said, when the line had been acknowledged. “News?”

“ _We’re about half a standard hour from dropping out of hyperspace, sir,_ ” she replied. “ _Shall I put you through to Ren? He’s been in his quarters since we left._ ”

“No, no, that won’t be necessary.” Hux paused a moment, thinking. “Keep me apprised of what happens on the surface once you reach the planet.”

“ _Of course, sir. Enforcer out._ ”

Hux killed the line and leaned back in his chair, thinking. This would all need to be smoothed over, but he had a vision for the kind of future he wanted the galaxy to have. Nothing, no senator or government or Resistance, would be able to stop him.

*

“They say,” the being said as they slid into the booth opposite Senator Jhet Synsen, “That the Emperor’s actually considering opening talks with the Republic. Peace talks.”

Senator Synsen looked up from his food, eying the cloaked being. They moved as humans moved, but beyond that, they let nothing of their own species show. It didn’t matter, though. They’d been bringing Synsen high-level intelligence from inside the Emperor’s offices almost since the Empire began, so they were human or near to it, and highly placed.

“Tell me something I don’t already know,” he said.

“They say it was Kylo Ren’s idea. That he’s secretly an operative for the Republic, that he has been all along, from the days before.”

“Rumors. Gossip.” Synsen took a long pull from his drink, eying the darkness under this being’s cowl. “Where are you going with this?”

“I know you were apprehensive about the Empire’s beginning…”

“Because I lived to see the first one fall, and I know how easy it is. Our beloved Emperor is young and vigorous, but it’s always wise to be cautious.” Synsen put down his drink. “What did you have in mind?”

“Something to eliminate the distractions before him and make sure that the Empire doesn’t enter into any Republic entanglements. If they sit down with that rabble, we risk losing everything we’ve gained, all the progress we’ve made in creating order in a chaotic galaxy.”

“Many before you have made similar claims. How do I know you’ll carry them through when our own Emperor seems content to play with his daughters and fuck his pet Force-user?”

The hooded being folded their gloved hands – five digits, definitely human hands – in front of them. “Because I know who’s on our side in this, and we’ve come up with a plan.”

*

The meeting took place on top of a mesa. Within ten seconds, the red dust had coated her boots and the bottom six inches of her pants, but Leia didn’t notice. Her focus was on the tall figure swathed in black, standing in front of a bat-winged shuttle. He’d thrown back the cowl of his robes but still wore his helmet, and the gold and chrome lines that circled the visor glittered in the dying sunset.

She walked, and kept walking until she was just ten feet away. Every cell in her body was reminding her that this was closest she’d been to her son since the day he’d boarded the _Falcon_ bound for Luke’s academy. Even though she longed to go to him, hold him and learn the shape of the man he had become, Leia kept herself in check.

“Did you bring your daughters?” she asked, careful to frame it so she didn’t imply they belonged to her, too, even though something of her resided in them. 

“They’re on Chandrila.” 

“Will you take off the helmet?”

He hesitated so long she nearly spoke again, just to break the silence but at last he reached up, and though she’d seen him unmasked on HoloNet broadcasts from the day he’d had a very public wedding to _that man’s_ son, she wasn’t prepared for seeing a reflection of her and Han. It was in the nose, she thought vaguely. He had Han’s nose, and her eyes, and—

“I’m not parts of anyone,” Ren said. “I’d have thought you’d have figured that you.”

“How did you—“

“You’re projecting. Loudly.”

He looked indignant, a painfully familiar expression. Leia smiled. “May I come closer?”

Ren hesitated but nodded, and she carefully advanced until she had to crane her neck to look up at him. The years had put a few strands of gray in his hair, and a few lines on his face, but they weren’t angry creases or frown lines. They were around the eyes, creases from laughter and smiles. 

“Will I be able to see them soon? The oldest, she must be… five?”

“Seven,” and there was a note of pride in his voice. “Isibel.”

“And the younger one?”

“Breena. _She’s_ five.”

“They’re lovely. Ben—uh, Ren, all I ask is the chance to see them.”

Her son’s eyes narrowed. “I’ll have rules.”

“That’s fine. I’ll do whatever you want.” _For the chance to see these girls you love—for the chance to see you—I’d do anything._

_No government is worth losing your family._

She had to wonder if he heard that from her, because he gave her an odd look. “I’ll have to talk about it with Hux,” he said quietly. But she knew him like she knew her own body, and in her heart, Leia knew he would do this for her.

“Of course.”

There was another pause before he slipped the helmet back on, letting it slide into place and pulling up his cowl. “Goodbye, General.”

Leia watched until their shuttle had disappeared into the sky, then turned and made her way back toward her own people.

“What do you think?” she asked Finn quietly. Lowering his hood, Finn stared after the shuttle, lost in thought.

“I think he’s not who he used to be. In a good way.”

“I can sense… holes. In him.”

“I think I’d rather have those empty spaces, General. It means something else can fill them.”

She smiled at him as they boarded their own shuttle and strapped in. “You’ve become more charitable.”

“They’re not the First Order anymore, and… something in him especially has changed. Just like it’s changed in me.”

The shuttle blasted off the surface, moving to rendezvous with their transport. Leia watched Finn brighten as they got closer. “You’re looking forward to going home.”

“I miss them. Rey, and Poe, and the twins.”

“I can’t blame you.” Leia leaned her head back against the headrest. “You and your children are the future, Finn. And I think the future’s in good hands.”

*

Three weeks later, the holocams rolled as the Emperor, his Knight Consort, and their daughters boarded a shuttle bound for the _Finalizer,_ the flagship of the Imperial fleet. She had been surpassed in technology and speed, but she had been the Emperor’s command before he had been Emperor, and he liked the continuity.

In his office on board, Hux watched the footage play over and over, the four of them boarding Ren’s command shuttle. He watched himself wave to the assembled crowds and holonews crews once, twice… and then he began reading the content of the actual articles written about their mission, and as he did, his father’s voice got louder and louder.

_Weak-willed_

“ _The Emperor has seen fit to jeopardize the progress made in the last decade for a family meeting with his traitor mother-in-law, the former Imperial Senator and Resistance leader Leia Organa…_ ”

Hux snorted, flipping to the next one. The day he considered Organa any true family would be the day Hoth melted and snow fell on Tatooine. 

“ _Imperial citizens are left wondering if their Emperor is secretly planning to broker away their future just so his consort can have regular visits with his mother, noted political figure—_ ”

Hux looked away but didn’t turn off the feed. His father’s voice had been quiet for many years – funny how he’d thought death would silence it but instead had only made it louder than ever – but now it seemed to be shouting at him, telling him that politicking was not the way to get what he wanted, that he had to _take_ it, grab it away from those who were determined to keep it from him, and if he continued to be so _weak_ he’d never get it.

“ _One must wonder how much sway the Knight Consort holds over the Emperor, and where his own loyalties lie…_

The feed cut off suddenly, and Hux saw Ren’s ghostly reflection in the transparisteel, one hand pressing the screen he’d been watching down into the desk.

“They’re settled?” he asked, eyes following this ghost-Ren as he straightened and circled the desk.

“Phasma’s watching them. She’s telling stories.”

“How heavily embellished are they?”

“I think there might be some truth to them, somewhere.” Ren gestured at the place the screen had been. “ _That_ is full of lies. Was that last one actually trying to make it seem like it was my idea?”

“You did force my hand, Ren. Instead of being on the offensive, we’re now on equal footing. Not ideal.”

“She agreed to my rules—“

“Our rules—“

“—and either way we remain in control.” He paused, then reached out and rested his hand on top of Hux’s, where it had curled into a fist on the viewport’s ledge. “Your mind’s out of order.”

“That statement factually makes no sense.”

“It’s usually so… orderly. That’s why I…”

He made a vague gesture, and Hux shrugged. There were some things they wouldn’t say, because they both knew words were malleable things.

“Does it make that much of a difference?” Hux asked. He was thinking of the Ren he’d known before, the man who would fly into rages at the slightest indication that something wasn’t going his way, and how over the years he hadn’t… mellowed, exactly, but he’d found more productive outlets for all that pent-up anger. Or perhaps Hux had directed him. Whatever.

Ren closed his eyes, letting his forehead rest against Hux’s shoulder. “It makes all the difference,” he replied quietly. “From the day that we killed Snoke, to now.”

“I will endeavor to get my thoughts back under control.”

This time, the brush of Ren’s mind was surprisingly gentle, and Hux felt pieces of him realigning, felt his clarity coming back. His father’s ghost could do a nosedive into the hottest part of Mustafar; Hux was the one laughing now.

_You’ll regret this, boy,_ Brendol had said, as the poison had reached his heart and his veins had turned sickly green under his skin. Hux hadn’t bothered to reply. His father was the old way, bogging them down in layers of tradition that, while worth remembering, weren’t what the First Order had needed to survive.

“We won’t let her take what we’ve made,” Hux whispered, and against his neck, Ren smiled.

*

Naboo had been chosen as the site of this first meeting between Republic and Empire, not only for its position near the border between their respective spaces, but because of its significance to Ren’s family. His grandmother had hailed from Naboo, had been queen and senator in turn, and when Hux had installed himself as Emperor he’d gifted Ren with the system. Unsurprisingly Ren had opted to let it be, officially a part of the Empire but without interference, to go on as it had for millennia before.

They’d landed in Theed, their shuttle slotting down neatly beside the Republic shuttle. The current queen of Naboo had offered the gardens of her palace to them for the meeting, and amidst the sweet scent of carefully tended flower beds and with the distant roar of waterfalls in the background, Leia knelt to be eye level with her granddaughters.

“Do you know me?”

Ever the bold one, Breena was the one to speak up. “You’re Grandma. Papa showed a holo.”

“And you’re Breena, aren’t you? That makes you Isibel.” She smiled at them. “It’s so nice to meet you.”

Behind her, Rey watched with crossed arms as Leia and the girls went off on one of the paths around the garden, followed closely by Ren. Hux stayed behind, flanked by his General and his guards. 

“FN-2187,” the General said. “You’ve become a Jedi.”

“His name is Finn,” Rey said, her voice chilly. “He’s a Jedi Knight.”

“I don’t know how we missed that,” Hux muttered, his voice deliberately loud enough to carry across the gap between their two groups. “We screened better than that.”

“Obviously you didn’t.” Finn’s fingers twitched as though they wanted to grasp the silver cylinder hooked to his belt, but they stilled, reaching for Rey’s hand instead.

“We’ve corrected that mistake. Though now we needn’t start so young.” Hux’s smile was pointed and sharp. Rey hated him, hated seeing him _happy,_ but she had other things to think about now than just pummeling his smug face into the dirt.

She had to admit that there was an odd sort of balance between them, Hux and her cousin. When they’d first met on Starkiller, Ren had been unhinged, clinging to Snoke as the only option to move forward. Now he seemed almost calm, though he kept looking back to Hux. She stretched out her senses and could almost see the threads winding around and between them, appearing to have been there for years, for longer than she thought that they’d known each other. Sparks drifted between the two of them and the girls, and idly Rey wondered if the same bonds existed between her and Finn and Poe and their twins.

She wondered if, in another world, another time, her children and theirs might be friends.

“ _Weird,_ ” Finn muttered as they fell in once people started filtering inside for food. The shadows were growing long, but strangely, there were none in her mind as there had been, once. “Do you think it’s genuine, those two?”

“Oddly enough,” Rey replied, “I do.”

*

Dinner had gone well enough. Hux had been on his best behavior, though he’d told the nanny to go enjoy herself in Theed and taken their daughters off to bed himself an hour ago. Rey and Finn had left too, saying they needed to make a call back to base. Slowly the rest had trickled out until it was just Ren and Leia.

“I’d like to talk, if we could,” she said quietly.

He didn’t stop moving food around his plate. “Depends on what you have to say.”

She watched her son picking at his food, trying to act like he didn’t care that he was in the room with his estranged mother and failing miserably, and finally got the courage to speak up, to ask the question she’d wondered on almost since they’d heard that Snoke had been killed.

“How did you do it?” she asked. “How did you defeat him?”

Her son froze, a forkful of food halfway to his mouth. Slowly, he lowered it. Around them, the plates and glasses left on the table clinked together, rattling for a few seconds before Ren drew in a breath and stilled them.

“We did it together,” he said, his voice flat. “Hux and I. He’d felt that Snoke was holding the Order back, and I…”

Ren paused, then rolled up one of his sleeves to reveal old scars – burns, she saw, horror filling her. Burns, and the marks that vibrowhips made, and more. Ren’s hand was shaking as he pulled his sleeve back down. 

“I’d had enough. Hux was an escape, at first, a way to distract myself, but then it… he…” Her son hesitated, then shook his head. “When I ripped Snoke from my mind, he kept me sane enough to put myself back together.”

Leia thought about the haughty, cold man she knew having warmth enough in him to keep the holes in her son’s mind from consuming him. It wasn’t an image that came easily to her.

“How’d you break his hold on you?”

The plates began to shake again, and Leia hurried to catch one before it shattered on the ground. In the time she took to do that her son had gotten up and left the table, and she was left alone with her thoughts.

*

The wheels of government rolled slowly and inexorably along.

After the second visit, an official envoy from the Republic was sent, and an agreement was reached on travel and trade between Republic-occupied space and the Empire. Worlds that had once been starved of Core-produced commodities had them again, and if the border remained heavily patrolled, it was at least calmer than it had been in years.

In a cantina on Chandrila, a figure with their face hidden by a cowl slid into one of the dingy booths at the back. The second being, a human male in patchwork pieces of armor, watched as the first being pulled a credchip out of a hidden pocket and slid it across the table.

“That’ll be the first payment, then,” the cloaked being said. Their voice was thin, reedy, but bore the air of intelligence and of someone used to commands being followed. “Half now, half upon delivery, as we agreed.”

The man in armor scanned the credchip with a device on his wrist, verified the amount, and tucked the chip away. “It’ll be a dangerous job. Three years in to these talks, they’re no less well-guarded.”

“You bill yourself as the best. Surely someone of your talents should be able to slip past security for two governments and collect four children, with a sufficiently-provisioned crew. I’ve certainly paid you handsomely enough to acquire one.”

“ _If_ I can find anyone crazy enough to sign on.”

“There will be a significant bonus to yourself and each member of your crew should this be a full success. And mind you, I want them _alive_ and _intact._ ”

“We aren’t child-killers.” The armored man rose from the booth, a smile on his face. “We’ll leave that to you.”

They left separately, and the being in the cloak took a circuitous route back to the government complex. The Assembly was due to meet, and she couldn’t be late. Constituents of a different kind had to be heard, after all.

*

The talks had reconvened on Yavin this time. Poe had led the children off on a short hike to a nearby lake, trailed by Ren, who was trying not to be obvious about his hovering but failing miserably. Leia smiled as she watched him amble off down the dirt path after the group. Subtlety wasn’t something he’d ever quite mastered. His partner, on the other hand…

Hux, naturally, had remained behind. He’d obviously been restraining himself when the others had been calling for volunteers to go on the hike, and now stood in the shade of the old Rebellion base, arms crossed over a pristine white tunic as the hikers were followed out by a group of guards for his daughters. Leia didn’t really understand it, how her son could have become so taken with this man, but now that they had a moment she was determined to find out.

“So, Hux,” she said, ignoring the sense of bristling that she got through the Force. They weren’t at the official summit talks right now, this was a family affair, and the title stuck in her throat anyway. She chose a safe topic to start with. “They’re growing up fast.”

“Children do that.”

“They do.” Leia crossed her arms, eyeing him. Whatever he styled himself, he was still a kid to her, and he was her son’s husband. She reserved the right to be critical of him as a person as much as his policies as a leader. “I hope you aren’t making the mistake I did.”

“Which one would that be?”

Leia took a deep and steadying breath. “The mistake of putting work ahead of family.”

He turned to glare at her. “How dare you even imply it? Do you know what we had to do to have them?”

“The Kaminoans’ services don’t come cheap.”

“No, they don’t. And the geneticists were extremely reluctant to work for a government again, until we impressed upon them what we wanted. But you insult me, General. From what Ren has told me, lack of proper parenting is half the reason he ended up in Snoke’s hands in the first place.”

It was one of the worst blows he could have dealt, and Leia narrowed her eyes. “That’s for me and my son to have out. I’m only trying to be sure that you aren’t neglecting them in favor of a power trip.”

She watched as he pulled himself back in with difficulty – the fact that it was obvious he was doing so was testament to just how touchy he was about the subject. Part of her argued that this could be a good thing, that his anger at the thought showed something of his commitment, but she didn’t rest on that. 

“You knew my father, yes? Brendol Hux?”

“I knew of him. Mostly as a thorn in my side.”

“Do you know, too, the… circumstances of our relationship?”

She did, but she’d had enough propriety not to bring it up to his face before. Since he’d asked, however… “I am.”

“My father and his wife tried for years to have a… legitimate child. When it was finally accepted that they could not, my father turned to me, grooming me. I’m certain you can imagine what that was like, being a politician from a young age as you were.”

“I can’t imagine what it was like with your father.”

“No,” Hux said, turning to look once more at the path the hiking group had disappeared down. “You can’t. What I want for my children, General – what I want for my _family_ \- is that they _never_ have to endure what I did. I would think that’s what you want too, yes? Despite the fact that you saw fit to ask for peace talks by way of an attack on our _home?_ ”

“We didn’t think you’d pay attention otherwise.”

“I think you’ll find I’m very good at listening, General. Though I wonder if you’re really hearing anything I have to say, or if you’re set in your idea that I’m an unfit leader and an even worse parent.”

“Leaving something better for our children should always be a priority. What makes you think that what you’re going to do with the galaxy will be better than what the Republic wants to do?”

“Because the Republic is, frankly, an unmitigated disaster. Both times, it grows bloated, full of competing interests and promises that can’t be kept, and each time, it’s burst and taken down billions of beings with it. It’s contradictory and turns a blind eye to the meanest of its citizens while all the while proclaiming itself a _democracy._ What makes me think I can do it better? _Everything,_ General. One vision for my empire, not a multitude of competing ones.”

Silence lapsed between them for a long time. Occasionally an officer would bring a datapad over to Hux and whisper something. Hux would scan the contents and either press his thumb to the box indicating approval or send it back for further work. When the flow had subsided for a moment, Leia spoke up again.

“What if your successor doesn’t share your vision?”

“I have every confidence that whatever direction she takes, she’ll carry it out confidently. At the very least, willfulness is something that runs in both our families, so she’ll be able to bully through any roadblocks out of sheer stubbornness.”

_Well,_ Leia thought, turning to head back inside, _He’s not wrong about that, at least._

“You’ve changed, you know,” she said, stopping to look back at him. “I remember reading dossiers on you a decade ago. You’re different.”

“One adapts if one wishes to survive in new environments.” Hux waved a hand. “But I’m sure you know that.”

*

As soon as they dropped out of hyperspace above the planet the next summit was to take place on, Ren went tense. Hux could feel it along his side, in the way the burr in his mind that represented whatever Ren meant to him began to spread and grow into a headache.

“Ren,” he said warningly, clenching his fists so his fingers didn’t go to his temple. “Please do relax.”

“It’s not right.”

Ren’s fists were clenched in his lap, fairly vibrating with whatever it was he was feeling. The girls were asleep in their suite of rooms on board the _Finalizer_ , but as attuned to their Force-sensitive parent as they were, he doubted they’d be that way if Ren didn’t rein in his agitation.

“I’m going to need more information.”

“Something’s… wrong.”

“Oh, _very_ helpful, Ren—“

“Will you be quiet? I’m…” Ren’s eyes unfocused and then closed. While he did whatever mystic nonsense he needed to do, Hux gestured his aide over and quietly told him to have the sensor crew run a full sweep and raise the shields. He’d learned to trust Ren’s mystic nonsense, to a degree.

“Well?” he prompted, after a few minutes had passed.

“I don’t _know._ We dropped out of hyperspace and immediately it felt like… if we go down to the surface, something bad will happen.”

“What, an assassination? A bomb? The Blue Shadow Virus? _Elaborate,_ Ren.”

“I don’t _know,_ Hux, I can’t—we can’t go down to the surface. We’re in danger if we do.”

“Sir,” Phasma called from her console. “The sensors show no ships in orbit that are unknown to planetary control. The Republic vessel is _very_ interested to know why we scanned them, however. Should I reply?”

“Tell them it’s a precaution on border worlds. Unstable region.” Not technically untrue, though the Imperial flagship and an accompanying escort of battle cruisers hardly needed to follow that protocol. “Ren, shall I call this off?”

He looked over, brows furrowed deeply. “You’d abandon the opening of a trade route just because I have a bad feeling about it?”

“I would be cross with you if you didn’t supply an explanation eventually, but yes, I would.” 

“I…” Ren turned to look out the transparisteel viewport again, watching the planet spin below them. He swallowed, drew in a breath. “No. We go on.”

“Are you certain?”

“Not at all. But I can’t give you anything concrete, that’s not how the Force works.”

“Then we carry on. But perhaps, Phasma, you’ll send a double guard down with us.”

“You read my mind, sir.” Phasma was already putting the order in as Hux swept past her toward the hangar bay and their waiting shuttle. “I’ll personally mind the girls when they’re brought down.”

The trip to the surface was brief, but Hux watched as Ren paced the length of the small passenger cabin, his footfalls heavy on the deck. “If you keep that up, you’ll drive me mad enough to feel whatever it is you’re feeling,” he said at last, the shuttle vibrating slightly around them as it broke through the atmosphere. “I know better now than to ask you to calm down, but if you could contain yourself somewhat, it would be beneficial. I’m about to open a trade route between my empire and our named enemy, and I’m rather testy about it.”

Ren didn’t say anything, but he did stop pacing, and Hux closed his eyes for the rest of the flight. As beneficial as this trade agreement would be, especially for the border worlds that had always been only loosely affiliated with him and would now associate his regime with a renewal of their economies, it had meant bending on some of his positions. And while he’d been merely disappointed, others had been vociferously against it, and it was those voices that had Hux worried.

_Twice as useless_

“Don’t start thinking about him,” Ren cut in, sitting beside Hux as the shuttle flew low over the city this important summit was to take place in. Hetrya was the capitol city of the planet of Kurvo, chosen for its strategic position along hyperspace routes and because it was one of those worlds that had lost its economy when the border had been drawn. Kurvo had turned itself out to host the Republic and the Empire, and outside the viewports, whitewashed buildings flashed by. He knew, because Ren was very close, and he could see the buildings reflected in dark pupils blown wide.

Then Ren’s mouth was on his, and he remembered that this had been the impetus for overthrowing Snoke. Ren kissed like Hux would personally save him from death, and maybe he in fact had; seeing what had been done to Ren on top of the still-healing wounds from Starkiller had ignited pure rage in Hux at the misuse and mishandling of someone obviously meant to be a priceless asset to the First Order. He’d let Ren come to his quarters once, and then again, and then it had become habit.

Ren had presented him with Snoke’s head, on the day it had been done. He’d been shaking and pale, but he’d tossed it onto the deck before Hux.

_The Order is yours,_ Ren had said. _The Knights of Ren are yours._

He hadn’t had to say _I am yours_ , for Hux had known that for months. And now Hux leaned into the kiss, feeding a fire that twelve years hadn’t been able to damp down.

“You quieted the noise in my head, and then filled it when all that was left was silence,” Ren said when he pulled away. “I can do the same.”

“I wish you could tell me what we’re flying into.”

“I wish I could too.” Ren watched as they swung around to land, the shuttle’s nose pointed across the landing field to where the Republic’s ships had landed, X-Wings arrayed around a command shuttle.

“We rely on you to keep it from us, then.” Hux straightened his tunic. He’d chosen black, and left off the cape. The ceremony tomorrow would require more accoutrements, but tonight was simply dinner. His insignia and the golden details at collar and cuffs would suffice.

Despite Ren being on edge the entire time, the welcome fete that night wasn’t a horrible disaster. Rey had brought along her twins, a girl with tanned skin and thick, shiny black hair named Kedra, and a boy, Jes, with close-cropped hair and a smile as easy as Finn’s. They were about Breena’s age, and the four children immediately bonded and ran off. Tall and imposing in her dress grays, Phasma caught Hux’s eye and nodded, keeping after them all night long. Though she didn’t seem to consider it a punishment, and at one point he saw the five of them sitting on some of the low stools provided at the edges of the room, Phasma telling some story to her rapt audience.

Despite the presence of his family, Ren seemed to relax as the night wore on. He’d kept his lightsaber on him, but it remained tucked neatly into its loop on his belt, and he’d only reached back and touched it four times over the course of the night.

It was well after midnight on Kurvo when they said their goodnights. Phasma had escorted the children off hours ago, and when Hux glanced down the hallway he saw a tall blond figure standing outside their door, so he left it. He was feeling warm and good from the wine, and Ren was picking up on his mood, because his hand was low on Hux’s back, fingers spread wide. Hux could feel each digit like a brand even through his clothes, and when they were inside their quarters, he pressed Ren back against the wall and kissed him hard. It wasn’t often they got time like this, and Hux intended to make the most of it.

“See?” he said, grabbing his husband’s wrists and pulling him along the curving hallway to their bed. “Whatever it was worrying you, it hasn’t manifested. Advantage goes to _us._ ”

“It’s subsided but it’s still there,” Ren began, but Hux cut him off with a kiss. Ren’s full lips parted, a soft groan escaping him as Hux reached down inside Ren’s robes, palming him through his trousers. 

“I don’t want this to subside. Take off your clothes, Ren.”

“Hux…”

“I said—“

“I know what you said.” Blessedly Ren cooperated, but Hux didn’t want to wait once he saw Ren’s bare chest, muscled and strong, and pushed his husband onto his back on the bed so he could straddle Ren’s hips. For a minute they were content with the pressure, Ren’s fingers gripping his waist with bruising pressure, flexing and clenching as Hux rolled his hips down, and then Ren had grabbed Hux’s tunic and was yanking at the clasps, and there was a flurry of hands and breaths as they tried to get all of their remaining clothing off at once.

“The lubricant—“ Hux began, but Ren was already twisting, reaching up into the stand beside the bed and pulling out the bottle. He grinned, taking the bottle and opening the cap. “For once, you’ve thought ahead.”

Afterward – and after a trip to the ‘fresher, because Hux did not want the mix of lubricant and body fluids on the sheets he was to sleep in – he shifted until Ren’s arm was draped across his shoulders as he lay on his stomach, burrowed into the soft bed. Ren was mostly asleep, his eyelashes only fluttering a little bit when Hux got comfortable.

“Don’t tell me you’re tired, Ren.”

“Which way? Words, or…” A feeling of warmth, a sensation he could only categorize as _soft_ , the idea of something like picking up a smooth-edged river stone, suffused his entire being, and Hux nudged Ren in the ribs.

“Stop it, you mad wizard. You can’t even predict something going wrong, which… is that not what prophets are supposed to do?”

“The Force doesn’t work like that either, Hux.”

“Well, how _does_ it work? Ten years on and I still thought you lot are supposed to predict the future.”

Ren didn’t say anything for a moment, just tightened his arm, his fingertips brushing over the skin of Hux’s shoulder. “I wish we could. I’d tell you exactly what you don’t need to worry about.”

“Such as?”

“Mmm. Your legacy. The fate of the Empire. The future of our—“ he hesitated, going so still that Hux wondered if he’d fallen asleep. But when he looked over Ren’s eyes were open, and he turned onto an elbow.

“Ren?”

“Our daughters,” was all Ren had to say, and they were both bolting out of bed, scrambling for whatever clothing they could find, tearing through the door so fast their guards were too startled to follow. Ren’s lightsaber bobbed ahead of him, and all Hux could think about as they rounded the corner to see that there was nobody outside the door to the girls’ rooms was that he ought to have gone and checked on them.

*

Rey was asleep, nestled against Finn with Poe sprawled across both of them, when a large and very loud group of people burst into their room. Her cousin was at the head of the group, hair mussed and clad only in his trousers, but his lightsaber hummed and crackled in his hand.

Rey was full awake as soon as she got a full sense of Ren’s mind. Far from how in check it had been before, now it roiled and snapped with anger and energy threatening to boil over. Poe was frozen beside her, and Finn was eying their lightsabers – across the room. 

“What did you do with them?” Ren screamed, and the decorative vases rattled on their plinths around the room. “Where did you take them?”

“What in the name of every hell are you _talking_ about?” Rey shouted back, struggling to a crouch on the bed, then standing so she was looking down at him. She’d die before she took Ren shouting at her laying down. “What do you think we took while we were all here, sleeping, not having anything to do with anything of yours?”

_I AM TELLING THE TRUTH,_ she thought forcefully, and she saw that he’d picked up on it, because he hesitated and the tip of his lightsaber dipped a bit before he raised it up again, eyes narrowed at her. Hux stepped in.

“Our _children,_ ” he snapped. “Isibel and Breena are _gone_ but, interestingly, your brats remain in their beds without a clue in all the galaxy as to what happened.”

“We haven’t even gone near the children tonight,” Poe said through clenched teeth. His eyes were trained on Ren, and Rey could see he’d grasped handfuls of the blankets, twisting them up in his fists to keep as much of his composure as possible. “The General saw them to sleep and then came back to the party. You talked to her. She wasn’t gone more than half a standard hour.”

“Let me _through!_ ” Someone in the back of the crowd was shouting, and then a blond head was pushing through the assembled beings. Phasma was sporting a bruise on her cheek, and had a medical droid bobbing at her side trying to convince her to sit down so it could tend her, but she kept waving it off. 

“Sirs, if I may—oh, shove off, you, I’ll let you prod at me when I’ve given my report—if I may?”

“By all means,” Hux said. He hadn’t taken his eyes off Rey.

“I was attacked in the corridor by a group of beings. I believe I got a look at the ringleader. If I could be provided with—“

“What is _going on here?_ ”

Rey saw Ren’s face pale, and she couldn’t blame him. Leia had only used that tone of voice a few times in front of Rey and only directed it at her once, and that had been more than enough for her to never want to be the subject of General Leia Organa’s anger ever again. She shoved her way to the front as well, meeting Hux’s glare with her own.

“You’ll call off your people, I’ll call off mine,” she said, her voice cold. Hux didn’t move.

“Ren? Should we?”

A moment later, Ren closed down his lightsaber but didn’t put it away, and he didn’t take his eyes off Rey and her partners. “For now.”

Commands were issued through the group and slowly, blasters were lowered. When they were all down, Leia turned to Phasma.

“Talk.”

Phasma glanced at Hux for his go-ahead before speaking. “I had put the princesses to bed – I take it upon myself to protect them, as I am trusted by both Isibel and Breena. I had taken first watch, and it was about halfway through, about two hours before Kurvo’s midnight, when a group I thought to be a regular patrol came by. I greeted them, and that was when they attacked. I was disarmed and rendered unconscious soon thereafter.” She sighed, looking up at Hux and Ren. “I’m sorry, sirs. This happened on my watch, and I take full responsibility for letting it happen.”

“Did you intend for it to happen?”

“No, of course not.”

“Did you fight back?”

“As best I could…”

“Then you didn’t let it happen.” Hux took a breath, then another. “Search the building and the grounds. Notify planetary control and have them put a landlock on every ship still on the ground, and transmit a list of ships that departed in the last hour to my datapad and Ren’s. Then—“

“You can’t give the orders,” Leia said. Hux’s eyes were chips of ice when he turned them on her.

“As this planet is officially on the roster of Imperial-controlled planets, I think you’ll find that I can,” he replied coldly. “Ren and I will dress properly. Meet us in the atrium or don’t, I really don’t care.”

They left, and slowly the room emptied after them. Phasma and the droid were last, her grumbling but letting the droid talk her into finding a quiet corner of the compound so it could finish assessing the bruising on her face.

“What the kriffing hell just happened?” Finn asked, when Rey had sat herself back down and taken Poe’s hand, trying to soothe him from the panic of seeing his torturer in front of him again.

“I haven’t the slightest idea,” she replied. “But I think we should check on our own children.”

They were frightened – Ren and Hux had burst in just after the kidnappers had left. Jes, the more sensitive of the twins, climbed into Rey’s lap and clung to her, shaking with fear, and Rey stroked his head and whispered that it would be okay. She felt a little guilty for being relieved that it had been her cousin’s children and not her own, but that couldn’t be helped. What parent wouldn’t be glad for the safety of their children in the face of something like this?

*

Hux didn’t need the Force to know that Ren blamed himself for the kidnapping. While they were back in their rooms getting dressed, he turned his husband around and gripped his chin in a hand, forcing Ren to look at him. 

“You will not… _mope_ about this,” he said. “I have trusted you and your more esoteric abilities to get me on my throne and keep me there. I should have trusted them now.”

“You should have.” But Ren’s eyes drifted away until Hux gave his chin a shake, made him focus back. 

“We will find them,” he said. “If I have to raze what’s left of the Republic to cinders, we’ll find them.”

“You think they did it?”

Hux let him go then, pulling on a tunic and making sure all his proper insignia were attached to it. He would be the most imposing figure in the room, even though inside he wanted to grab a blaster and a shuttle and turn the galaxy upside-down. “I think they haven’t been eliminated. Come, Ren. We’ve got a meeting.”

*

On the _Darkstar,_ a Duros bounty hunter named Kraize made sure the two children were restrained in the special, Force-suppressing cuffs he’d been given, then made his way back to where the rest of his crew had gathered in the hold. They were muttering, restless; one of the girls, the older one, had tried to use one of the Jedi’s mind tricks on them. Though she’d been unsuccessful, the experience had been enough for some of them to question if the job was worth it.

“Enough complaining,” he said, pushing through the group of them to get to the cockpit. “We’ve got a series of four jumps ahead of us, then a long haul to where we’re going to rendezvous with our client and hand over the cargo. Then we’ll get the rest of our payment, and we’ll be on our way.”

He left them behind and climbed up into the cockpit. The pilot was just finishing the hyperspace calculations when he dropped into the seat just behind, and a moment later the viewscreen was full of the shifting blues and grays of hyperspace. 

“Were we followed?”

“Not that I could tell. No scans beyond the usual, no activity from either Imperial or Republic ships in orbit. I’d say it was a clean getaway.”

“Nothing’s ever clean. But we got away undetected for now, and that’ll have to do. We got the cuffs on them so we shouldn’t be dealing with any more tricks.” Kraize leaned back against the seat. “The one girl, the oldest, she’s her father’s daughter.”

“I heard. S’freaky. They should all have stayed dead, the Jedi.”

“Don’t know about that. I just wish we never cross paths with another one.”

*

The search spread from the grounds of the compound to the entire city of Hetrya, and by the time the sun had risen above the walls of the government complex, it had been determined that Isibel and Breena were no longer in the city.

In the room they’d appropriated as a command center, Hux tightened his fists to keep from slumping when the last group of searchers reported in. On the table beside him his datapad began to rattle, vibrating toward the edge of the table, and Hux put a hand over it to keep it from falling off. Behind him, he heard Ren draw in a long breath and let it out. Things stopped moving after that, but the static in his head didn’t quite go away.

“Sirs,” Phasma said. “I’ve analyzed the ships that left the planet between the time I saw your daughters to bed and the time they were discovered to be missing. I’ve narrowed down our options, but…”

“But?”

“But there are at least five of interest, and most of them are headed in opposite directions. By the time enough personnel and ships are scrambled to search appropriately, the trail will have gone cold.”

“The galaxy is only so large, Phasma, surely they can’t go that far—“

“Three of the five indicated the destinations of their jumps were not their final destinations.”

From across the room, Rey looked between Hux and Phasma, and got up. “Can you bring up the information you have?”

Phasma didn’t look to him for confirmation this time, but Hux was too busy trying to keep his father’s voice silent to care. That old fool had gone quiet for years once he’d built a family of his own, unusual and artificial as it was, and Hux wouldn’t let the old ghost haunt him again. 

“We can help. If you let us.”

He looked up, raising an eyebrow. “You… what?”

Rey crossed her arms. “Finn and Poe and I. And the Republic, I suppose. We Jedi, we have rather a lot of pull with them.”

“Why would you want to help us?” Ren asked. His voice was forcibly calm, a sign that Hux ought to keep an eye out. He always got like that right before an explosion, and if it was going to happen he’d have to try and head it off at the pass. “What would the Republic care?”

“The _Republic_ would care because this is the best deal they’ve gotten out of you since you took power. _I_ care… _we_ > care because you’re family, even if you don’t act like it. Children… children shouldn’t suffer for the actions of their parents.”

The way she said it, the way Ren twitched in surprise, told him her words had some meaning for the both of them. A long moment of silence passed before Ren turned to him.

“I believe her,” he said simply. “But mostly, I want my daughters back.”

“ _Our_ daughters. Is this more of your Force prodding telling you something?”

“No. But it doesn’t benefit them to spend resources looking for the children of a leader they hate, does it?”

“I can hear you,” Rey called indignantly. “Not all of us hate him.”

“Not all of you,” Hux repeated dryly, but rubbed his eyes. He’d been awake since yesterday, and he wasn’t as young as he’d been in the heyday of the First Order, when he’d been obsessed with the Starkiller project, working three and four days straight to get a section of the main weapon complete and sent off for review and fabrication. “What assurance do I have that you won’t demand more for turning my daughters back over?”

“We’re not barbarians.” Finn leveled a long, measuring stare at him. “If the same thing happened to our children, we’d want you to do the same.”

They parted ways in orbit, Ren piloting the small, fast ship they’d chosen (against Phasma’s wishes and, surprisingly, the wishes of that mousy little man from the _Finalizer_ ) and Hux running the hyperspace calculations.

“We’ll find them,” Ren said. He sounded like he was ready to personally dig through every backwater hole if need be. Hux preferred to be a bit smarter about things, but at the moment he was angry, annoyed at having to ask for help from the Republic, and convinced he’d let down two of the only people in the galaxy he truly cared about.

“We’d better,” he said, pushing the lever forward and watching as the stars streaked out ahead of them. “You’ve got to teach them to defend themselves, and I’ve got to personally murder whoever took them.”

*

Kraize dropped out of hyperspace at the rendezvous point and took them toward one of the barren moons of the gas giant they’d reverted close to. “Anything?”

“Sensors are showing a large freighter on the far side of the moon. They’re transmitting the clearance code we were given.”

“Bring us in.”

When they were within comms range, Kraize hailed them and got an acknowledgment. “We’ve got what you asked for.”

“ _Unharmed?_ ”

“Of course. A little sleepy.”

“ _Not_ drugged _, I hope._ ”

“Our medical droid says they’ll be fine. They’re your problem now, anyway, so long as you’ve got the rest of my payment.”

“ _Don’t worry about your credits. Just dock with the ship and we’ll make the transfer._ ”

With four of his crew to each one, the two children were escorted onto the waiting ship. The hooded figure Kraize had met with back on Chandrila was there, with a 2-1B medical droid hovering at their shoulder. The droid checked each girl in turn.

“They are in good health,” the droid said at last. The older girl, the redhead, glared at it.

“Papa’s angry,” she said. “He’s going to find you and kill you.”

“That’s no way for a girl your age to talk.”

The girl’s eyes narrowed. From what he’d seen of the Emperor in holos, Kraize thought she looked an awful lot like him. “I don’t care. He’s going to find you and kill you, Mi—“

“Enough. Take them to their special accommodations,” the hooded figure said, and watched as the two girls were escorted deeper into the ship under their absurdly tight guard. “Your payment’s on the grav-sled just there.”

“Much obliged.” Kraize directed two of his crew to take the cases of credits back over to their ship, but paused before heading along the connection himself. “Out of curiosity, what are you going to do to them?”

“I thought it didn’t matter after you transferred them to us.”

“It doesn’t. I just want to know what to look out for, if I’m caught.”

“I’m keeping pursuit off you.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

“That’s all _you_ need to know. This isn’t your problem any longer.”

Kraize hesitated. The hooded figure’s voice had shaken, but as he’d said himself, it wasn’t his problem anymore. The job was over. He shrugged.

“Don’t look for me,” he said, and went back to his ship, closing the hatch behind him and thumbing the comms for the pilot.

“ _Yeah?_ ”

“Get us out of here as fast as you can,” Kraize said. “The more distance we can put between us and this idiot, the better.” 

*

On the second leg of a long hyperspace jump, Ren jolted out of a restless sleep. He’d been at the controls, wanting to keep an eye on things in case the ship encountered anything or someone commed in. Hux hadn’t even argued with Ren had sent him back to the narrow bunk, and a quick probe with the Force told him that Hux was deeply asleep, his dreams vague and formless.

What had brought him out of sleep? Sitting up and stretching the kinks from his shoulders, Ren checked the ship’s systems and found nothing amiss, and no lights were blinking on the comms console indicating a message. He reached out with his senses, stretching them as far as they could go, and other than the flutter of anxiety at his own agitation, the Force had nothing to tell him.

Something in his own mind, then. Hux had come to appreciate that Ren wasn’t the great lumbering fool he’d originally thought during the early days of the Empire, when they’d been bringing systems into the fold and pushing back the Republic one sector at a time. Ren had taught him something of how the Force worked, and when he’d understood it, Hux had been able to direct him more effectively.

Hux had saved him, given him purpose that he’d been sorely lacking since they’d killed Snoke. Given him a family, one of his very own. Ren would die for Hux, if he asked it.

But right now, he had to live, to find Isibel and Breena. Something in his gut told him that was why he’d awoken. He checked the systems again while he thought, his hands moving idly over the controls, a kind of moving meditation he’d taught himself. Luke and Snoke both had tried to get him to do the traditional kind, focusing on the flame of a candle or an idea, but both had abandoned it; he’d always been better able to focus when—

_Papa_

His eyes snapped open. “Isibel?”

_PapaPapaPapaPapaPapaPapa--_

There was a flash in his mind of a lightsaber, two golden blades whirling above him, then a blue blur, the sound of blasterfire and fear so chilling that when he came back to himself, he saw his breath puff out in a cloud in the cockpit.

_I’m coming,_ Ren thought, and dropped out of hyperspace long enough to set them on a new course. Once he had, he went aft. Hux had woken up when they’d jumped to hyperspace again, and was sitting up, blinking at him.

“What is it? What happened?”

Ren sat on the bunk, and to his surprise and pleasure Hux lay back down, a hand resting on his leg. They were alone, so Ren dropped a hand to Hux’s hair, playing with it. “Isibel found me,” he said softly. “I’ve set a course.”

“She gave you coordinates? Through the Force?”

“No, I used the Force to sense where she was.” His nails scraped Hux’s scalp, and the other made a quiet noise. Ren could feel Hux’s worry unspooling slowly, and did it again. He could be exhausted and still fight on; Hux needed his mind to be sharp, and for that he’d have to be relaxed. “Rey and Finn are with them, I think.”

“How do you—“ Hux stopped himself, his fingers digging in slightly to Ren’s leg. “Never mind. More Force business.”

“More Force business,” Ren agreed. “We’ll have them back soon, safe. And then you and I can kill whoever did this.”

“I like the way you think, Ren.” 

*

The planet they reached at the end of the jump – a jump where Ren had sat close to the engine compartment, eyes half-closed in trance as Hux watched the light-years fly past faster than should have been possible - was a dry, dusty ball with no name beyond a surveyor’s designation, and with good reason; there was nothing there. No mining prospects, no proximity to trade routes, nothing save a few different types of avian species, all of them with plumage as drab as the place they called home. A few of them wheeled overhead as Ren knelt to catch Breena as she ran at him. They were alike, those two; Isibel was more like him, reserved and preferring to hang back and observe before acting. 

Now, though, she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his tunic, and despite that there were Republic fighters all around them, going through the small compound that had been set up on this rock, Hux put an arm around her. 

_Go kriff yourself, Brendol,_ he thought.

“Are you all right?”

Isibel nodded. “Rey and Finn and their friends found us and fought off the bad men.”

“I’m very glad for that.” Beside him, Ren had picked up Breena, but his eyes were on the hooded man that a couple of the Republic troops were dragging out of one of the metal huts. He had a look about him that Hux had come to think of as Ren on the hunt.

“Ren, we’d best let them go get settled on the ship,” he said. “There are only a few things left to do here.”

Ren glanced at him, but nodded and set Breena back down, and both girls were escorted up the ramp. The personnel in the compound were being lined up to board an Imperial prison transport that was landing, and Hux studied them.

“I recognize some of them,” he said. Ren nodded.

“I do too. Crew recently rotated off the _Enforcer._ ”

“Officers assigned to duty in my security detail.”

Rey was standing beside the hooded man, wearing the most disgusted expression Hux had seen on her face yet. “This one feels all wrong,” she said. “Makes him all yours.”

The words stuck in Hux’s throat; luckily, Ren stepped forward. “You rescued our children,” he said. “I can’t thank you enough. _We_ can’t thank you enough.”

“I told you, we’d want you to do the same.” She paused, peering up at Ren. Hux got the unsettling idea that she was staring _through_ his husband, and when she stepped in and embraced him it was so startling he had to step back from it.

“You’re not as lost as you think,” she said so quietly Hux knew he wasn’t meant to have heard it. Whatever Ren said in reply was lost to the crunch of his boots on the ground. He went to the hooded man, reaching up to grasp the edge of the cowl.

“What kriffing _moron_ was foolish enough to—“ he pulled the cowl down and froze.

The man, the mousy little man from the _Finalizer,_ was peering up at him through lank brown hair. “Sir,” he said, breathing a little hard. It only took Hux a moment to recall the man’s name - Dopheld Mitaka, First Order officer turned Imperial aide, who stood before him as abductor of his children.

“Somehow,” he said after a minute of staring at this most unlikely villain, “I’m not as surprised as I could be, all things considered. Though what your endgame was, I’m not terribly certain.”

“You were putting at risk everything you’d worked to build, all so _he_ \--“ Mitaka jerked his weak chin in Ren’s direction, “—could see his traitor family again.”

“You think the Empire is going to dissolve because I let my husband’s family see that he’s prospered without them?” Hux snorted. “Perhaps this is the reason you never rose in rank before I took power. You’ve no _vision,_ and no competency in framing others for your crimes, either. The Republic’s too idealistic to use kidnapping as a means of manipulating me, particularly when the victims would be the grandchildren of one of their leaders.”

“I was hoping the ruse would go on for long enough for the fighting to start,” Mitaka mumbled. “That way at least it would be like before.”

“You mean when we were the First Order, scuttling about at the edges of known space and hiding our strength? I wasn’t meant for that, and neither was the Order.”

“I don’t think he understands, Hux.” Ren was fingering his lightsaber, looking at the man like he was an interesting target in one of the many training rooms scattered across their residences.

“I understand that instead of wiping out the Republic, we’re _negotiating_ with them!” Mitaka burst out. He was angry, irrational. It wasn’t a good look on him. “I understand that instead of being _rewarded_ for my loyalty, I was shuffled aside! There are, are, _others_ over me—“

“Probably because you don’t deserve more than you had. You utter fool,” Hux said, and he let his voice fill with pity. “You never could take the long view, could you? Ren, would you dispose of this?”

Behind him, he heard the familiar three snaps of Ren’s lightsaber, the hum as his husband stepped up beside him. Confused, Mitaka rocked backward, looking up at the man who had once been his general and was now his judge. 

“Don’t you want to know why I did it? What I hoped to accomplish?” he asked.

“Not particularly.” Hux turned his back, looking up at Ren. “He’s all yours.”

As he walked toward the ship, Hux heard an aborted scream and a sickening thud, and smiled. Being married to someone with no compunctions about killing to keep his happiness in place was so convenient.

Ren fell into step beside him, ignoring the horrified stare of his cousin as they passed her. “What _do_ you think he was trying to do?” he asked.

“Oh, probably something tedious like incite a war… not altogether a terrible idea, given that this all started out with an attack by the Resistance, but sorely lacking in execution. He ought to have known the ruse wouldn’t last the moment you and your cousin got to talk.” Hux scowled at the hem of his coat as he walked up the ship’s ramp. It was dusty; he’d have to have it cleaned and pressed before the trade agreement signing.

Breena was in the small sleeping cabin but Isibel had stubbornly buckled herself into a seat in the cockpit and stubbornly refused to leave when he asked.

“I wanna see where we go,” she said. Her voice shook a little at the end, and a thought drifted across his mind like the brush of fingers, scarred and calloused from saber use but gentle.

_She doesn’t want to be alone. I can understand that._

“If you won’t go join your sister,” Hux said, taking the hint, “Then come sit with me, and I’ll let you take us into hyperspace.”

He caught Ren’s eye as Isibel was enthusiastically tugging on the hyperspace lever and felt a surge of pleasure. His father’s voice was silent, and he had everything he wanted.

For now.

_What’s next, I wonder?_ he thought, as the stars blurred.


End file.
